Encrypting Files

The revelations of Edward Snowden caused a big upsurge in the use of encryption for protecting data from inappropriate access. People are now using encrypted filesystems as well as self-encrypted hard drives (SEDs). However, not everyone is using encryption. Recent revelations about accessing the data of individuals includes the story about how the NSA and Britain’s Government Communications Headquarters (GHCQ) supposedly gained access to SIM cards from Gemalto, allowing them to access any cell phone communications that use these cards. There is also the story about how Lenovo installed malware on its laptops that allows the software to steal web traffic using man-in-the-middle attacks. When you use an encrypted filesystem or SEDs , all of the data is encrypted. However, if you forget the password, you lose all of the data on the filesystem or drive. It may be easier to encrypt files individually so that if you forget the password, you only lose a single file and not the entire file...